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Arthritis Res 2000, 2:276-280
doi:10.1186/ar102

Published: 26 May 2000

Abstract

In the past 5 years, around 350 patients have received haematopoietic stem cell (HSC)
transplantation for an autoimmune disease, with 275 of these registered in an international
data base in Basel under the auspices of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)
and the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation(EBMT). Most patients had
either a progressive form of multiple sclerosis (MS; n = 88) or scleroderma (now called systemic sclerosis; n = 55). Other diseases were rheumatoid arthritis (Ra n = 40), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA; n = 30), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE; n = 20), idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP; n = 7) and others. The procedure-related mortality was around 9%, with between-disease
differences, being higher in systemic sclerosis and JIA and lower in RA (one death
only). Benefit has been seen in around two-thirds of cases. No one regimen was clearly
superior to another, with a trend toward more infectious complications with more intense
regimens. Prospective, controlled randomized trials are indicated and being planned.